WILD WEST

All the burnouts and mayhem from Perth’s Motorvation 33

MOTORVATION is a West Aussie institution, and if you’ve been counting, it has been running for 33 years – one more than Summernats! For the past few years though, it’s been in a bit of a transitional phase with the management at the Perth Motorplex changing and the organisers struggling to find the right balance with the number of – and type of – cars they wanted to attract to the event.

A few years back there were around 800 cars in attendance, and while that might sound like a killer show, it usually resulted in a gridlocked cruise route and a large number of cars that you may or may not have been able to see at the shopping-centre car park. It’s also tough to find the right balance of steel-bumper versus late-model cars, because let’s face it, a lot of the younger crew are throwing money at Commodores and Falcons and making stupid amounts of horsepower – they’re the kind of people you need to include.

This year’s event was definitely down on numbers, which from an entrant’s point of view wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It meant more chances to cruise and less time waiting in the staging lanes. Unlike Summernats, because the Motorplex is held at a drag strip, the cruising needs to be a little more structured, so they have a Smooth Cruise – where you’re meant to behave yourself – and a Super

THEY HAVE A SMOOTH CRUISE – WHERE YOU’RE MEANT TO BEHAVE YOURSELF – AND A SUPER CRUISE WHERE YOU CAN CUT SICK

JAMIE KENNEDY PUT ON A GREAT SHOW IN NASTY8 DURING THE CRUISING AND THE BURNOUT COMP, BUT THE ENGINE DIED

AN ‘ACTIVE ELITE’ SHOW MEANS YOU CAN TAKE YOUR CAR OUT OF ITS DISPLAY AND CRUISE, AND EVEN DO SOME SKIDS

Cruise where you can cut sick.

The Elite tent had little more than a dozen cars on display, and you have to wonder whether Motorvation is the type of event that needs an elite show. To their credit, the organisers have made efforts to evolve this part of the event by making it an ‘active elite’ show, which means you can – if you choose – take your car out of its display and cruise the event, and even do some skids if you want.

Entrants in the burnout competitions were down on numbers as well, but the quality was right up there, with some killer performances put on by Chad Douglas in 2MENTAL, Chris Orchard in BALLISTIC and Matt James in COMPACT.

I’m not sure what the future holds for Motorvation. It may never be a three-day event again, but I don’t see that as a negative. While it was a one-day-only event for spectators, entrants got to enjoy eighthmile drags, cruising and a drive-in show on the Friday night. If you’re a West Aussie and on the fence about Motorvation, don’t be. Get behind it and enjoy it for what it is – a long-running, laidback good time with your mates.

1: After blowing up the transmission in UNWANTED, Matt James jumped into COMPACT and drove it like a wild man, taking out the win in Pro class2: Daniel Shoesmith thought he’d take it to the big boys in the Pro class with his pump-fuel, dual-plane Ls-powered VH Commodore after winning the NA comp last year. He did more than that, putting on a killer smoke show and finishing fifth overall 3: Mark Grose is giving his HT Monaro a bit of a rest while he has a bunch of fun in his new ride, this killer EK ute, which also features a tunnel-rammed and nitrous-fed small-block Chev 4: Ben Forster’s ‘Coupster’ was gleaming in the sun just outside the Elite tent. With its smoothed and polished Lincoln V12 flathead and panel paint, it’s a real throwback to the 60s 5: Nick Ierino’s Whipple-blown small-block HZ has no problems smoking the bags fully loaded thanks to 1000hp at the tyres